Andy Duncan writes: > > Any tips on how to give presentations and what tools to use > > are appreciated.
In the spirit of TMTOWTDI, let me respectfully disagree on some points :-) > Also, say each thing three times: > > "I was walking down to the shops the other day, and saw this great > pair of ski-boots in the shop window. I'd always wanted a pair of > ski-boots. Anyway, while I was in the shop trying on these > boots......" This might work well for high school essays but it bores an audience. > Then there's other stuff; move around, forget about your hands, look > people in the eye - but don't worry too much about this kind of > thing. Empty your pockets and pee before you go on stage. Nothing worse than someone's hands working furiously in his pockets leaving you to HOPE that he has a set of keys in there. Or the progressive speedup of a presenter whose bladder is getting closer and closer to rupturing. > Plus, don't plan jokes. There's always some-body who'll be offended > - "Let's bomb Russia! :-)" Not good, if that Awfully Clever Bloke in > the front row, who enjoys humiliating people, is originally from > Minsk. Sure, that's a danger, but at some point I say "fuck 'em". If you're Russian, you must be used to potato, tractor, and Boris/Natasha jokes. The real danger with planning jokes is that your delivery is dead dull. Comedy is very difficult to do--I can't tell jokes. I can sometimes be funny spontaneously, but I have crappy delivery of prepared jokes. So I don't prepare jokes, but I do extemporize. When it comes to this, everyone will have their own style. As mjd said, if you're not funny then don't try to force it. Nat
